(RNS) Despite emotional protests and fierce lobbying from gay rights groups, United Methodists voted on Thursday to maintain their denomination’s stance that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Two “agree to disagree” proposals were soundly defeated during separate votes by the nearly 1,000 delegates gathered for the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in Tampa, Fla.

One proposal would have replaced the “incompatible” phrase in the Book of Discipline, which contains the denomination’s laws and doctrines. Both proposals sought to soften the disputed doctrine by adding more ambiguous statements about homosexuality.

Gay rights advocates in the UMC viewed the compromise proposals as the best chance to advance their cause at this year’s General Conference, which convenes every four years. On Friday, delegates are expected to debate the church’s bans on noncelibate gay clergy and same-sex marriage.

With nearly 8 million members in the U.S., the UMC remains the country’s largest mainline Protestant denomination. But United Methodism is shrinking in the U.S. and growing in Africa and Asia, shifting the balance of power to overseas conservatives. Nearly 40 percent of the delegates gathered in Tampa live outside the U.S.

Thursday’s debate put the denomination’s wide diversity on display – as gays and lesbians pleaded for recognition of their “sacred worth” and an African delegate, speaking through an interpreter, compared homosexuality to bestiality.

The proposals defeated on Thursday would have acknowledged that diversity, but, some conservatives argued, at the cost of muddying traditional doctrines.

One proposal would have changed the Book of Discipline to say that gays and lesbians are “people of sacred worth” and that church members differ about “whether homosexual practices (are) contrary to the will of God.”

The “incompatible” phrase would have remained, but the Rev. Adam Hamilton, a pastor in Leawood, Kansas, argued that his proposal would “acknowledge our disagreement on a huge issue that is separating churches in North America today.”

That proposal was defeated by a tally of 54 – 46 percent.

“I see no reason why we should state (in the Book of Discipline) that we disagree,” said the Rev. Maxie Dunnam, former president of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. “We disagree on almost every issue we consider.”

The delegates defeated another compromise proposal by an even wider margin: 61 to 39 percent. The resolution would have acknowledged a “limited understanding” of human sexuality and called on the church to “refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices until the Spirit leads us to new insight.”

The Rev. Steve Wendy of Texas argued that the compromise would cause confusion and lead the church to “stumble in our witness.”

“If you look at our largest congregations, and crunch the numbers, they are all reaching young adults successfully,” Wendy said. “And, overwhelmingly, they teach and proclaim God’s truth without compromise.”

But Jennifer Ihlo, a lay delegate from the Baltimore/Washington Conference, argued in favor of the compromise. “I want to be clear that this is not an abstract issue. This is about people who are being harmed by the church and by the use of the `incompatibility’ language,” Ihlo said.

“I am a lesbian and a child of God and I strongly urge the body to support this compromise language so that gay youth … will recognize that the church loves them and God loves them and the violence and pain and suicide will stop.”

After the proposals were defeated on Thursday, gay rights activists flooded the assembly floor and disrupted the session by singing the hymn “What Does the Lord Require of You?”

Indiana Bishop Michael Coyner, chair of the morning session, told the protesters, “I think you’re actually hurting your point.” When the protesters refused to stop singing, Coyner closed the session, sent the delegates to an early lunch and threatened to bar protesters from the convention hall in the afternoon.

Church leaders and the protesters later worked out a compromise, according to United Methodist News Service. On Thursday afternoon, the delegates shifted their attention to clergy pension plans, leaving key votes on gay clergy and same-sex marriage to Friday, the last day of General Conference.

I hate it when someone hates someone, for hating someone, when the person really never hated anyone.

You may be thinking, “Wow that is a lot of hate.” After you wrestle through that sentence and determine who hates who, you may notice how this line of thinking is not merely a fun tongue twister, but a sad reality for many people today.

This line of thinking can be seen most clearly by those who have caused a stir over two recent interviews with Piers Morgan.

Piers Morgan recently interviewed both Kirk Cameron and Pastor Mark Driscoll on his CNN talk show Piers Morgan Tonight. During both interviews Morgan questioned the men on their views of homosexuality.

The response of these men has ignited a public controversy. What was said by these men that has caused this uproar? Did Cameron and/or Driscoll’s responses merit the criticism in which they have received?

When Kirk Cameron was asked whether homosexuality was a sin, he responded by saying,

“I believe that marriage was defined by God a long time ago. Marriage is almost as old as dirt and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve: one man one woman for life till death do you part. So, I would never attempt to redefine marriage and I don’t think that anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No I don’t.”

Mark Driscoll’s sounded very similar to Cameron with his response. When confronted with the question, Driscoll responded by saying,

“I believe that all sex outside of heterosexual marriage. So, me as a teenager having sex before marriage, that was wrong. People looking at pornography is wrong. Single people having sex is wrong. Homosexuality is wrong. So there’s a long list of things that the Bible says is wrong.”

As a result of these interviews, both men have been caricatured as being homophobic. Both men’s responses have no hint of homophobia.

The secular media have construed these responses to mean that these men hate homosexuals. Even if one disagrees with these men’s views on homosexuality, it should still be clear that their responses in no way come across as hate speech. People disagree with positions all the time, without hating the person’s who hold them.

I personally believe Chik Fil A is the greatest fast food restaurant in the world.  I know several people who (wrongly) disagree with me on this. Although my friends and I may disagree on this position, our disagreement does not mandate hatred for one another.

Furthermore, scripture calls for the Christian to place a dichotomy between these two lines of thinking. What two positions are Christians called to hold?

Scripture gives a clear definition of sin. Not only does scripture define sin, it also calls all mankind to flee from it. The Christian is called to recognize, hate, and flee from sin.

Sin is not something that is exclusive to homosexuals. Paul is very clear in the book of Romans that all men are sinners. If one were to hate a person because he/she is a sinner that would entail him hating all men, even himself. Although the Christian is called to hate sin, he is also called to love his neighbor.

Christ models the importance of loving men in spite of their sins.  Even while we were living in our sins, Christ died (Ephesians 2). Christ embodies perfect holiness.

Christ perfectly displays a hatred for sin. It was this sin, which drove Christ to the cross. Christ’s hatred for sin did not prevent him from showing love and mercy to mankind. The greatest picture of love toward sinners, in spite of their sin, can be seen when Christ dies on the cross for these sinners.

Both Cameron and Driscoll’s response display this balance in which the Christian is called to hold. Both men recognize the sin, yet display love toward the sinner.

The church has not always displayed a perfect balance between these two thoughts. This imbalance which sometimes creeps in, should display that the church too is made up of sinners who have been saved by the grace of God.

This imbalance does not negate the sinfulness of sin, but it demonstrates that the church will always experience “growing pains.”